Round 1 Feature Match: Kenneth McCarthy VS Justin Lam

September 4th, 2010

Kenneth McCarthy traveled here this weekend from New Jersey, and is one of several Scrap Duelists in competition here this morning. His opponent, Justin Lam, is also playing a new strategy: Naturias, with Naturia Bamboo Shoot. Neither Duelist knew what his opponent was playing, and odds were good that they weren’t anticipating the matchup they were in. It’s officially a new format now, as we kick things off with Naturias versus Scraps!

McCarthy opened the day with a hand of MonsterReborn, ScrapGolem, BottomlessTrapHole, MagicDrain, SpiritReaper, and CyberDragon. He Set BottomlessTrapHole and Drain.

Lam Set a monster, then Set a card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone. He paused, and then Set 2 more Spell or Trap Cards.

McCarthy drew Scrapyard. He Special Summoned CyberDragon, but Lam activated RoyalOppression to negate the Summon! He Set SpiritReaper, then Set Scrapyard to finish out.

Lam Tributed his face-down NaturiaCosmobeet for NaturiaBambooShoot next turn! He activated BlackGarden, and then activated CompulsoryEvacuationDevice to return the Set SpiritReaper to McCarthy’s hand! Bamboo Shoot attacked for 2000 damage.

McCarthy Set SpiritReaper again.

Lam Set a monster, attacked into Reaper with Bamboo Shoot, and ended.

McCarthy drew TrapHole, Tributed his Reaper for ScrapGolem, and BlackGarden Special Summoned a RoseToken alfter halving Golem’s ATK. Golem attacked over the RoseToken.

Lam Flip Summoned another Cosmobeet next turn, attacking Golem with Bamboo Shoot and then making a direct attack with Cosmobeet. McCarthy conceded after seeing his next draw: another TrapHole.

Justin Lam hits the ground running, Summoning NaturiaBambooShoot on his second turn backed up by RoyalOppression and riding it straight to victory! McCarthy was clearly surprised by the matchup, and dove to his Side Deck to prepare for Duel 2.

McCarthy started the second Duel with MonsterReborn, GiantTrunade, 2 BottomlessTrapHole, MysticalSpaceTyphoon, and SpiritReaper. He Set Reaper, Set both copies of Bottomless, and Set Typhoon.

Lam Set 2 cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zone, then activated MysticalSpaceTyphoon to destroy a BottomlessTrapHole. He tried to Summon CactusBouncer, but lost it to McCarthy’s second Bottomless, reeling in surprise. He Set one more Spell or Trap Card, and lost StarlightRoad in his End Phase when McCarthy activated MysticalSpaceTyphoon. Lam still had 2 cards Set in his Spell and Trap Card Zone.

Next turn McCarthy made a direct attack with SpiritReaper, forcing Lam to discard MonsterReborn.

McCarthy activated Scrapstorm and targeted his ScrapBeast. He sent ScrapChimera to his Graveyard, drew a ScrapChimera, and destroyed his ScrapBeast. That triggered its effect, letting him retrieve the other ScrapChimera he’d sent to the Graveyard! He Summoned Chimera, activated its effect, and Special Summoned ScrapBeast. He Tuned them together, trying to Summon ScrapDragon, but Lam had RoyalOppression once again! SpiritReaper attacked for 300 damage.

McCarthy Tuned his ScrapBeast and ScrapChimera, Lam tried to activate RoyalOppression’s effect to negate the Summon, and McCarthy Chained MysticalSpaceTyphoon to destroy Oppression, and Scrap Dragon was Summoned (4+4=8)! McCarthy activated MonsterReborn, Special Summoned ScrapBeast, and destroyed it and Lam’s face-down Dandylion with ScrapDragon’s effect. Lam Special Summoned 2 FluffTokens, and McCarthy got back his Chimera with ScrapBeast’s ability. The Dragon and Reaper then destroyed both FluffTokens in battle.

Lam Summoned LonefireBlossom, Tributed it for its effect to another from his Deck, and Tributed that to Special Summon Spore in Defense Position.

McCarthy Summoned ScrapChimera, again Special Summoning ScrapBeast! He activated ScrapDragon’s effect, destroyed his Scrap Beast, destroyed Spore, and took back Chimera. Finally, he attacked with ScrapDragon and ScrapChimera to end the Duel!

Lam started the last Duel with by Setting 2 Spell or Trap Cards, Summoning CactusBouncer, and activating BlackGarden.

McCarthy had Breaker the Magical Warrior, MagicDrain, ScrapGolem, MysticalSpaceTyphoon, ScrapChimera, and ScrapBeast. He activated MysticalSpaceTyphoon, targeted BlackGarden, and destroyed it. He Summoned Breaker and attacked CactusBouncer, but lost his Breaker to DimensionalPrison! McCarthy Set a Spell or Trap and ended his turn.

Lam attacked for 1800 Battle Damage with CactusBouncer on the turn that followed.

McCarthy drew GiantTrunade and Set ScrapBeast.

Lam Tributed CactusBouncer to Set a monster, then Set a third Spell or Trap.

Lam attacked with BotanicalLion, McCarthy tried to Summon BattleFader, but it was negated by RoyalOppression. Lam Set a monster.

McCarthy Set a Spell or Trap Card.

Lam destroyed it (Dimensional Prison) with Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter next turn. Ryko’s effect sent Spore and two more cards to the Graveyard, and Lam tried to Special Summon it. McCarthy negated the Summon with RoyalOppression, and Lam Tributed Ryko for NaturiaBambooShoot. He then attacked directly with his 2000 ATK Bamboo Shoot, and his 2200 ATK BotanicalLion, and that was enough to end the Duel!

Both competitors make their key plays and combos, but it’s Justin Lam that takes the last Duel, claiming victory in his first Round of the day!

Post-Event Analysis!See what our panel of experts had to say about this Duel after the event was over.

Jason Grabher-Meyer(The Old Man of Dueling)NaturiaBambooShoot is a really brutal card, and Lam’s RoyalOppression let him protect it so he could keep using its effect in Duel 1. The 1 card that could’ve saved McCarthy was EffectVeiler: even though Veiler only negates a monster’s effect for 1 turn, it stops the Shoot from remembering that a “Naturia” monster was Tributed for its Tribute Summon. That turns its effect off permanently, and that would have let McCarthy fight back.

Michael Kohanim(2009 World Championship Competitor)When McCarthy Summoned Scrap Golem, McCarthy could have used the effect of Royal Oppression to pay 800 LP and negate the effect of Black Garden when it triggered. This would have left him with a 2300 ATK monster capable of taking down Naturia Bamboo Shoot. If McCarthy had made that play, Lam would need the Compulsory Evacuation Device to protect his Bamboo Shoot.

P.J. Tierney(Duelist from across The Pond)Naturia Bamboo Shoot’s a fantastic card to have on your side of the field. A Cyber Dragon (now at 3 copies per Deck) or any commonly played Synchro Monster could take it down in battle, freeing up Lam’s opponent’s Spells and Traps again. With Black Garden though, any monsters that are Summoned lose half their ATK, which means they can’t run over Bamboo Shoot like they would normally. Add in the fact that Lam could Tribute the Rose Tokens that are Summoned for Pollinosis (essentially giving him 3 more copies of Solemn Judgment in his Deck), the inclusion of Black Garden makes a lot of sense.